By Canadian Press

New veterans ombudsman experienced disability backlog firsthand

Dec 22, 2020 | 8:31 AM

OTTAWA — Canada’s new veterans’ ombudsman says she personally experienced the controversial backlog that has seen thousands of injured ex-soldiers wait months or years to find out if they qualify for federal support.

Nishika Jardine tells The Canadian Press that she was forced to wait more than a year before finding out whether her application for disability benefits had been approved by Veterans Affairs Canada.

The former Canadian Army officer who took over as veterans ombudsman last month says she was unable to access government-supported physiotherapy while waiting for her application to be processed.

The backlog has emerged as a major point of frustration for veterans, with Veterans Affairs sitting on around 45,000 unprocessed claims at the end of September.

Jardine says the backlog has real impacts on veterans as they are unable to access many financial and health services as long as their claims remain unprocessed.

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The federal Liberal government announced in June plans to hire hundreds of additional temporary staff to deal with the backlog, but veterans’ advocates have said the plan does not go far enough.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 22, 2020.

The Canadian Press